The Crow Tree Book 1 in the Magical Midland Forest Series

The Crow Tree is the first in the Magical Midland Forest series of contemporary novels for young adult readers. It's set in a mysterious forest with talking animals and a secret passage to another time and in a tense and fractured American town next door. The story is told by a ninth grader named Marcus. He and his marching band friends usually stay to themselves. But with loggers clear-cutting the forest, Marcus is losing his only place of refuge from his parents' divorce and his struggles at school. Now a new virus has appeared, and the few Black students at Midland High are being blamed for it. Marcus and his friends join forces with a pair of talking crows and a stranger from another time to try to save their friends, the forest, and the school. A kind of cross between Stand by Me (Stephen King) and Lord of the Flies, this coming-of-age novel is set against life in America today--bullying, racial tensions, rising heat, and polarized adults--seen through the eyes of our young narrator.